PRESS PLAY FOR PRADA

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large (Bethan Holt)

So here I am, posting for the first time as Fashion Junior, and who better than Prada to ease us into back into the fashion mojo after a long Summer break. The brand is still riding high on the massive fashionista love-in sparked by the genius concoction of stripes, baroque motifs and bananas in the SS11 collection. The video released yesterday to showcase their AW11/12 campaign does little to abate our crush on Miuccia's quirky aesthetic. This is just a quick post as I'm still getting to grips with the whole having my own desk/ first day at work thing. So on this balmy afternoon in London I leave you with Steven Meisel's depiction of Miuccia's exotic skins and phosphorescent frocks as modelled by the ethereal Kelly Mittendorf, Frida Gustavsson, Ondria Hardin and Antonia Wesseloh. I don't know about you but the haunting soundtrack (which despite extensive research and calls to the Prada Press Office, is still unidentified, making it all the more eerie) gives me goosebumps.

Film courtesy of Prada

THE WEEK IN FASHION 13TH JUNE-17TH JUNE

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large
Additional research by Bethan Holt

Here's our weekly round up of the goings on in fash-land over the past five days. While most of the fashion press have been obsessing over the resort collections (more on those to come!) these were the news stories that caught our eye this week.We kick off, fittingly, with a quote from the High Priestess herself...

1. Famously anti-tech Anna Wintour gave the perfect five word acceptance speech for Vogue's People's Voice Award at the Webbys: "Sometimes geeks can be chic." Got it in five, Anna - and come on, like we didn't know that already!


2. The fashion hackers have struck again, and it's Beyonce (in kinky Vuitton) vs. Christina  Aguilera (in, well, not a lot) on the leaked covers of this month's W magazine

 3. Alexandra Shulman stepped into the ring for the racism in fashion debate, following the recent racism related lawsuits involving Naomi Campbell and Cadbury and Rihanna and Gucci. In response to Liz Jones' claim that the industry is 'inherently racist', Shulman pointed out: "There have always been black players on the scene — at the moment look at the stylist Edward Enninful, make-up artist Pat McGrath and [models] Jourdan Dunn, Liya Kebede and Joan Smalls, who are at the top of the tree."The Vogue Editor also hinted that she has two black cover stars lined up for future issues - Michelle O, perhaps?

4. It has been a week for campaign releases, as Tom Ford poses with Lara Stone in his new make up shots
...

 

Lara and Tom try to out 'good face' each other in the Tom Ford makeup campaign

5. ...while Angelina Jolie poses in Cambodia (birthplace of her son, Maddox) for Vuitton 's core values campaign

6. Jess Cartner-Morley declares this the summer of intentional bad taste fashion, all thanks to a Prada banana

Prada SS11, and the banana skirt that started it all...

7. Aggy is back in the business! Everyone's favourite leggy blonde Agyness Deyn has re-signed with her old agency, Select Model Management, and is hoping to stage a comeback. Shouldn't be too tricky when you look like this...

Aggy shot by Tim Walker for the May issue of Vogue. Beautiful!

8. What  has Stefano Pilati been up to while his mate Kate was on her hen weekend on the Isle of Wight? Designing costumes for a new Harold Pinter production, of course! With Kristen Scott Thomas taking the lead in The Betrayal, this will be one dramatic fashion statement.

9. You thought the V&A Vivienne Westwood exhibition had covered it all? Well, now her iconic shoe designs have an exhibition all of their own

 The Gillie shoe, most notorious for bring Naomi down to earth with a bump!

10. Mulberry have had a very, very good year, reporting a 69% increase in revenue.Those cute woodland creatures from their last show are obviously hiding some savvy business sense..

 Mulberry Resort 2012. They don't just do handbags, y'know. It's all about the doggy RTW.

11. A very dapper Jonathan Saunders deservedly picked up Designer of the Year at the Scottish Fashion Awards - even though the win took him by surprise, having just been "texting Chris Kane saying 'Sam Cam's wearing your dress, you're definitely going to win it!'"

 Designer of the Year Jonathan Saunders picks up his SFA in a trendy teal tie.

11. Following the news that K-Mid's wedding dress is going to go on show at Buckingham Palace, across the pond, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame have included Gaga's infamous Meat Dress in their 'Women who Rock' exhibit. Thankfully, the meat has been preserved so that the now well-past-it's-sell-by-date flesh dress won't pong out the exhibition! Tasty.

 

12. Stella Tennant presented the Devonshire Cup at Royal Ascot (she's related to the historic English family). On Ladies Day she was sporting a brilliant trilby avec taxidermy birds, designed, of course, by Stephen Jones. Only Stella and Stephen could make dead birds look this good! 

Stella Tennant and Stephen Jones during the design process for Ascot's chic-est headgear. Photographed by Robert Fairer

13. And finally, over the past five days we have continued to be baffled and bewildered by Bip Ling's blog posts and Tweets. A choice example from @BipLing:

"YUPP having a great holidayyyyyyyy SHUVS AND FOREST ARE GREAT FUN YAR YAR YARRR LOVE ITTTT :-) BOOM BOOOM xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

What?! Does anyone speak Bip and can help us out?!

And that, fashion fans, is the week that was...

Images: Catwalking, Vogue UK, Style.com, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, US Vogue.

THIS WEEK IN FASHION- 6TH-10TH JUNE

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large.
Additional Assistance from Bethan Holt

1. Gareth Pugh is to create a range of make-up with MAC. Gareth has been extremely canny and global about his trajectory from gothic costume designer at London Fashion Week to a junior global player with mens and womens shows in Paris and events in Florence as well as his brilliant fashion film presentations with ShowStudio. Though he now sells his collection globally, Gareth admits he still grapples with the commerciality of creativity in fashion.

Gareth and his artist boyfriend Carson, by Nick Knight (via ShowStudio.com)

'If you, as a fashion designer, you do shows but you don’t sell, it kind of becomes a bit of a vanity project,’ he admitted recently. ‘You know, that’s kind of how I started and that’s how I got going but... the two need each other, business and creativity. I’ve made my peace with that.' (Elle.uk.com)

So who is Gareth Pugh for Mac Make-Up for? And what will it do for the person wearing it?  "You put on make-up and your transform yourself, " Gareth told Alex Fury in a ShowStudio.com film last year  "from something that you are, to something that you want to be. The crux of what we do, I think, is selling people a dream to be something they haven't been before. As a designer I don't sell things that complement a lifestyle [laughs a bit to self] I create things that make your lifestyle a little bit more interesting." Hear hear to that! I'm very much looking forward to seeing what is revealed next month in New York when Mac and Gareth Pugh unveil their collaboration in make-up.

Meanwhile, here is a Pugh/Box look

2. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen is to go on show this Summer at Buckingham Palace. I wonder if it is the actual gown, or a back-up? From 23rd July buy tickets from http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/

3. Frida Giannini 4 Florence Welch. Frida, (she who created the most copied AW11 collection), has long been talking about how much she adores Florence. She cited her as inspiration for her Autumn/winter 2011 show and as a muse for her Spring 2011 show too and now lo! she is to "design" Florence Welch's tour outfits! Though looking at the sketches, these are exits lifted directly from her AW11 show. They are perfect for the very leggy Florence, and will look brilliant on stage where Fl ouses her legs to maximum effect. Don't think those fabulous T-Bar shoes will stay on for long. Flo likes to go barefoot..


Some of Frida's designs (from People.com)

 4. The unstoppable Mary Katrantzou has designed two costumes for a dance for ICA's retrospective exhibition exhibition of Pablo Bronstein's work: Sketches of Regency Living. "It was a great challenge to design the costumes for the performances that Pablo Bronstein has choreographed for ICA," Katrantzou told Vogue. I've never heard of Pablo Bronstein myself, but if Mary K is involved it must be worthwhile. Mary is also doing a talk about her career tonight at the ICA with  head of St Martins Fashion MA, Louise Wilson.

Mary's designs for her Pablo Bronstein collaboration (From Vogue.co.uk)



5. Hussein Chalayan changes name of his company to CHALAYAN and launches diffusion line

A Chalayan design collaboration with Swarovski (from Independent.co.uk)

6. Update on Prada's market plans


The Power of Prada- Anna Wintour in the now iconic skirt from the SS11 collection

 7. One of my favourite designers of the last two decades, Hedi Slimane WILL make a design comeback. Though he is still musing on when and how.

8. I know its week old news, but the new Fashion East line-up is looking good, and I wanted to share

Laura Bailey wearing James Long SS11

See more of denim design duo Marques'Almeida at their site



I love Maarten Van Der Horst's fun Hawaiian frou-frou collections. See more here



9. Helena Bonham-Carter is the new face of Marc by Marc Jacobs. I KNEW her fashion moment was coming when her madcap outfits started to look cool to me about five months ago. 

Helena Bonham Carter has her best fashion moment yet, shot by Juergen Teller for Marc Jacobs (Image from CatwalkQueen.tv)

10. The World's Oldest Supermodel to be honoured by London College of Fashion 

Carmen shot by Ruven for Vanity Fair Italy in March (from Models.com)

11.New Duran Duran super video...Everyone remembers George Michael's Freedom video which starred all the supermodels of the 1990s. Now, Duran Duran are releasing a new single and have gathered together Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford for a video and cover shoot for Harper's Bazaar. The cherry on the cake is that Dolce Gabbana are doing the clothes... WE CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THE RESULTS!

Dolce and Gabbana with Naomi, Helena, Eva, Yasmin and Cindy. For more pics see Stefano Gabbana's Tumblr

12. After being honoured at the CFDAs on Monday, the BFC threw a farewell party for Hilary Alexander on Thursday night at the Renaissance Hotel in St Pancras. It was a very moving and fun evening. Suzy Menkes gave one of her heartwarming speeches, and The Daily Telegraph team created an animated precis of Hils career, complete with a cartoon Hilary smoking and drinking wine. Having worked with her all their observations were hilarious, especially when cartoon Hilary was smoking and drinking with one hand, while one-finger typing with the other as the room filled with smoke....

Hils has a chat with an even more diminutive version of herself, a puppet created by Matches and gifted by Tom and Ruth Chapman  (from 10magazine.com)

Fashion Editor at Large with Hilary Alexander

13. It's all change at Vogue as Kate Phelan leaves to become Creative Director at Topshop and Robin Derrick leaves to pursue new projects. At Hilary's party last night TopShop  MD Mary Homer told me "It was time we had a creative on board to oversee all elements of TopShop. The whole team is delighted that she is joining us, as am I." Kate Phelan herself is equally upbeat. "I am thrilled to be joining the Topshop team as Creative Director. Topshop is the most influential, dynamic fashion brand on the high street, a pioneer in both store experience and designer collaborations. I look forward to contributing to Topshop's next chapter" (via Telegraph.co.uk)

Kate Phelan at the shows (from showstudio.com)

Kate Phelan's previous styling for Topshop campaigns (from CLMUS.COM)

TEDDY BOY COMEBACK FOR AW11

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Additional research by Bethan Holt

For Autumn/Winter, we will be seeing a lot of influence from the British youth subcultures of the 50s and 60s, notably Mods and Teddy Boys. So, we decided to investigate what was de rigeur for these young people seeking to break free from the wartime austerity which characterised their childhoods.

Abbey-Lee as a Teddy Girl in Dolce Gabbana AW11

First up, the Teddy Boys. These teenagers from disadvantaged areas of London are often credited as being the first to define a distinct identity for a group that weren't children, but were also not quite ready to call themselves adults. I am always keen to find a literary reference and that is easy-peasy with the Teddy Boys as their high maintenance look has roots in the dandy figure of the late-Victorian and Edwardian era, some 50 years before. In fact, the name Teddy Boy comes from this association with the Edwardian period. The poster boy for this look is the venerable Oscar Wilde whose preoccupation with velvet jackets and flamboyant buttonholes is legendary

Teddy Boys got their influence from Dandies. Their icon was Oscar Wilde. Here he is looking whimsical in the 1880s (image from www.wikipedia.com)

 The dandy attitude- placing having fun and looking pretty  above all else- provided an ideal template for the Teddy Boys. We have been hugely entertained by the brilliant names for all the elements which made up their look. The BROTHEL CREEPERS were orginally worn by soldiers fighting in North Africa in WWII and the thick crepe sole would save feet from getting burnt. Back in Blighty, they carried on wearing the army issue shoes out and about and so the creeper became the brothel creeper (we'll let you make the connection!). There is also a theory that the name comes from the creep dance which all self-respecting Teddy Boys perfected. 

Prada's flatforms for SS11 bear more than a passing resemblance to the Brothel Creeper

Doing the creep! (Photo- a 1980s teddy revival- from A30yoyo on Flickr.com)

WINKLE PICKERS provided an alternative to the brothel creeper; a sleeker option which 
has consistently survived in the mainstream (Image from http://www.riotmode.net/) How fabulous is this shot?

Also demonstrated above are the ANKLE STRANGLERS, which would be sewn in at the
bottom to create the desired effect. A coloured sock peeping out at the bottom finished
the look. Finally, the DUCK'S ARSE is probably the last thing we'd want on our head 
but this is the name given to highly sculpted, grease heavy hairstyle sported by the Teddy 
Boys. Although not exclusive to the Teddies- it was widely worn throughout the 50s , its
prevalence shown through the film which arguably epitomises the decade, Grease- it is a 
vital part of the signature look.

Elvis with his "Ducks Arse"

Here is a fascinating clip of Wayne Hemingway (of Red or Dead fame) discussing his
impressionsof the style choices of the Teddy Boys.  Key musical heroes for the 
Teddy Boys included Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, The Drifters and Cliff Richard (Never
thought you'd see his name in a fashion blog did you?). We also love the video below
of Buddy Holly, who was another key musicalinfluence on the Teddy Boys, on a 
rather prim and proper American dance show. The contrast between Buddy's rock
and roll sound and the perfectly poised ladies in the background, dressed

in their Dior 'New Look' influenced attire shows the tug between vastly different
reactions to the post-war era. Don't you think everyone should be dancing around
the background rather than standing tall, looking like puppets?!

The Teddy Boys certainly paved the way for men to become more engaged with their
fashion choices  but it wasn't just a question of style. The Teddy Boys may have been
swathed in velvet and inconveniently tight trousers on the outside, but these outfits 
were a mask for a more sinister motive. They were notorious for carrying around
knives in secret pockets of their jackets. After the release of Blackboard Jungle, they 
rioted and so the Teddy Boy name became associated just as much with violence as it
was with the seismic shift in men's attitude to fashion which they spearheaded.

Dolce and Gabbana are mostly responsible for bringing the Teddy Boy back into the
fashionconsciousness. They used velvet collars, winklepickers, coloured socks and
even a hint of a duck's arse to recreate the Teddy Boy aesthetic. Phoebe Philo also
references the subculture in her Celine Pre-Fall collection.

Dolce and Gabbana AW11

Celine Pre-Fall 11

Images courtesy of Catwalking.com and Style.com

MY MOST IMPORTANT TRENDS FOR SPRING/SUMMER 2011

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Apart from being a fashion writer and editor for Grazia and POP I'm also an occasional trend consultant. Upon returning from the shows I geek out with my show notes and compile trend reports. Originally this was done as a hobby - a bit like my blog is now - then one of my friends who is a creative director asked to see one of my trend reports, so it kind of become proper, though it still feels like a labour of love. Anyway. Though me and the Fashion Junior laid these trends down last October, now is exactly the right time for me to share my top ten new trends of Spring/Summer 2011 with you. 

                                      1. MINIMALISM

Jonathan Saunders

(also seen at Celine, Chloe, Stella McCartney, Philip Lim, Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang)

 

 2. MAXIMALISM

Marc Jacobs

(also seen at Louis Vuitton, Giles, Prada, Dior, Burberry Prorsum, Christopher Kane, D&G, Michael van der Ham)

3. LONG

Peter Pilotto

(also seen at Lanvin, Givenchy, Fendi, Ferragamo, Unique, Vuitton, Chanel, Pucci, Richard Nichol)

4. SEVENTIES

Derek Lam

(also seen at House of Holland, Richard Nichol, Halston, Marc Jacobs, Sonia Rykiel, Anna Sui, D&G, Alberta Ferretti)

5. COLOUR

Lanvin

(also seen at Jil Sander, Prada, Roksanda Illincic, Fendi, Mulberry, Theory by Olivier Theyskens)

6. NOVELTY

Prada
(also seen at Holly Fulton, Giles, House of Holland, Unique, Mary Katranzou, Louise Gray, Mark Fast, Moschino Cheap and Chic)


7. GRAPHICS

 Celine

(also seen at Holly Fulton, Giles, House of Holland, Unique, Mary Katranzou, Louise Gray, Mark Fast, Moschino Cheap and Chic)

8. FLORALS

Jil Sander

(also seen at Jil Sander, Erdem, D&G, Cacherel, Dries, Jaeger, Clements Riberio)

9. GEISHA

Roland Mouret

(those shoes are absolute winners too. Worn with every single look in the collection they looked good with everything from trousers to evening dresses)

(also seen at Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Haider Ackermann, Philosophy)

10. SUGAR &SPICE

Miu Miu

(also seen at Mulberry, Chanel,  Rykiel, Erdem, DKNY, Marc by Marc Jacobs)

Photos: Catwalking.com/Christopher Moore

MILAN AW10: PRADAS ANGEL HEART

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Miuccia Prada did a show that appealed to the heartland of her customer base. All part of this seasons trend for "real" fashion that chimes with the way we live now. Viewing the show today on Prada.com I realised I can be next season now as the bow front patent sandals on her runway are almost identical to a pair I bought from Miu Miu a decade ago.

This ongoing trend for "real" is worrying me. I need to put the word in speech marks because the way it is being bandied about in some quarters  - not Prada, her expression of fashion now is genuine - is about as real as a bunch of plastic flowers. Real is an attitude, not a trend. What is real for some, is not for others. The trick is knowing what is real for you. But, hey, if it serves to remind consumers that the mortgage is due, and to pay off the credit card, maybe it is not such a bad thing.

You should watch the Prada show, what it lacks in drama (these are lovely clothes, not a Beckett play) it makes up for with haunting music. Miuccia chose to use a large swathe of the soundtrack to the 1987 movie Angel Heart, a film that makes my all-time top five. The part she used is taken from the conclusion of the film when Johnny Favorite/Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) realises he sold his soul to the devil and upon accepting who he really is (a dual-personality murderer), pays his debt with his life. Significant? I doubt it.

ANYWAY. Here are my personal top five Prada looks for AW10:

This shade of blue will become a trend for next season. 

 

Top-to-toe tonal dressing is gaining credence. I wear socks like this at the weekend.

Beautiful coat. The proportions of this outfit please my eye

Can't wait to wear....oh look..I've got those sandals already!

This looks fresh and new. Love the shiny black split skirt with the bow-belted camel top, and the double collar is oddly wonderful.

Picture credits: Chris Moore/Catwalking.com